Our History

In 1914, Charles F. Strole and Frederick C. Wright, Sr. formed the Strole Realty Co.  Frederick C. Wright, Jr. purchased the insurance part of the business from his father in 1936 and formed the Strole Wright Insurance Agency.  J. Arthur Speicher joined the firm in 1938 as an independent broker.  The W. Murray Bachtell Agency was purchased in 1940 and with this purchase came Clarence S. Gardner, Jr., who had been associated with his father-in-law (Murray Bachtell) since 1937.  The agency became incorporated and changed its name to Wright Speicher & Gardner, Inc. in January, 1954.  Fourteen years later, in January of 1968, the name was changed to Wright-Gardner Insurance, Inc.  In March of 1998, Wright-Gardner Insurance purchased Tischer & Associates – a local independent insurance agency specializing in contract surety.  Although all three of the original founders, Frederick C. Wright, Jr., J. Arthur Speicher, and Clarence S. Gardner, Jr. are deceased, their commitment, dedication and purpose to serve the insurance needs of our community lives on with the fourth generation leadership of F. Christian Wright, IV, the great-grandson of our original founder.